I love this season. I think I have more fun during black powder season that any other, at the least I enjoy shooting my blackpowder. I am hunting with an inline Rossi, so far it seems to be a great little gun for the price. I am 50/50 with it, missed a 6 point and took a doe with it last year. When unloading an in-line does it have to be shot to unload or can the plug be unscrewed and the load pushed out? If this can be done is there any danger of the plug sparking and igniting the powder?

No, they do not have to be fired to be unloaded...just creates a total cleaning job.

They can be "pulled" with a ball puller on a ramrod;
They can be blown out with compressed air;
They can be removed by unscrewing the breech plug and pushing the load out;

It's extremely improbable that unscrewing a breech plug could create ignition...BUT...the best, safest answer has to be that "Murphy's Law" can prevail at any time, and ignition might somehow occur...so if we always assume that and take appropriate safety precautions while doing so, nobody gets hurt, etc...just manage the muzzle while doing it.

I've been known to take mine even during rifle season. Roundball gave ya good advice on the rest. Good luck to all!

I always "pull the trigger" to unload mine. When I get back to the truck, I find a solid rest and let it go!! To me, its just another way of making sure that the scope is still "on" for the next day of hunting.

I like shooting smokepoles so much that's about all i hunt with all season unless i go down in the bottoms and hunt my fields ,then i will take a centerfire.Right now it still ml season till the 15 of dec. and i an't seen no one even hunting around ,but i think the weather is the biggest reason its near 70 degrees today,we had 2 frosty mornings last week and 6 inches of rain in the last couple days ,this north ms. weather is crazy.